"Canarios, comrade! I should think so; tooth and nail. I will not stay any longer. Be off!"
"Well, we shall have you all soon."
"Try it, compadre; try it. In the meantime, as your conversation has little attraction for me, I shall take the liberty of breaking it off. Good luck!"
Saying this, he closed the window abruptly.
Don Leoncio turned to his brother, who had advanced to his side.
"Did I not tell you so?" said he, with a shrug; "Was I mistaken?"
"No; I admit it. Now, having saved our honour, we can act as we please."
Don Guzman leaned towards his brother, and spoke a few words in his ear; the latter smiled, and left him.
The peones, arrieros, and wagoners were posted behind the galeras, so as to be sheltered from the balls of the besieged. There they awaited the signal for the assault.
Don Leoncio busied himself during all this time in heaping dry grass and branches around the rancho. When sufficient had been collected, he set fire to it, and his men cast their burning torches on the roof.